The striker, awarded the captaincy by England manager Gareth Southgate in the lead up to the tournament, scored the opener in the 11th minute and then headed the goal to give England three points, after Tunisia scored a first-half penalty.

“I’m really proud,” Kane, 24, said. “We’ve done a lot of work on the training field, we were itching to play. It’s tough – the World Cup is tough, especially the first game. Get the nerves out of the way, the excitement and then we’ve got to play. I’m so proud of them.”

Joy from corners

On a night in which England’s players were pestered by swarms of mosquitoes, Kane believed he should have been awarded two penalties after he was twice hauled down in the Tunisia penalty area at corners, but the VAR did not correct the referee’s call.

“I think there could have been a couple of penalties, especially when you look at their one,” Kane said. “We had so much joy from corners, they were trying to grab hold, trying to stop us running. Maybe a bit of justice at the end to get one at the back post. That’s football, that’s the ref. It shows good character to get on with it and that’s what we’ve done.”

England manager Gareth Southgate said: “Even though the clock was running down, we stayed patient. We waited for opportunities. We made so many clear-cut chances in the first half. We were strong on set plays in the second half. Even if we had drawn the game I would have been proud of us. We’ll do well to make as many in a game in this tournament. Good teams score late goals. If you pass like that the opposition tire.

“We’ve given ourselves a great platform to build from. There’s so much to be pleased about. But there’s a lot to work on.”

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